Weather's Here, Wish I Wasn't
by Tyem Marodyor
Summary: Lily Evans and nine others get to go to a History of Magic museum on a school excursion! Huzzah! But, in Vanessa's words, "Those clouds look angry." Lily's POV
1. Who Got In?

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and anything that you read here which sounds like something out of Harry Potter probably is, and I just want you to know that he and anything else related to him is not mine. Yet.

**.x.x.x.**

Alright, I know. What the hell could I possibly tell you about going to a deserted island for about a week? I mean, look at me; I'm a wreck. My hair's basically all but fallen out, no thanks to Lockhart; I haven't slept a wink in days for fear of ambush; what advice, could I possibly give?

This.

If you, at any point in your life, are offered the following, do not take it, no matter how great you think you would have done, or how wonderful this excursion sounds (especially if your school basically never takes you on excursions). Do not take this opportunity. Just run. Bolt like lightning.

See, at Hogwarts, we were given the chance to go and see a History of Magic Museum, just over the ocean a bit. The ten people who got the highest scores on our recent History of Magic test would be able to fly on over there by broomstick. Exciting, yeah?

No. Oh, dear Merlin, no.

**.x.x.x.**

I tapped my fingers anxiously on the table at breakfast. I can't stand tension, suspense and all that crap. It basically sends me into a nervous meltdown.

"Calm down Lily," my friend Emmeline Vance told me calmly. She looked at me over the top of her reading glasses that she had gotten over the previous summer. She made me feel like some kind of inferior bug, looking at me like that. "I'm sure we're all able to go. We studied together and everything."

I didn't say anything in reply, but my mouth twisted nervously, and my fingers tapped faster.

Dorcas Meadowes, another friend of mine, had been watching my fingers for some time now.

Suddenly, her hand leapt out and slapped mine.

"Ouch!" I yelped, snatching my now practically-dead hand off the table and stroking it with my other hand. "What the hell was that for?"

Dorcas shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips and a sparkle in her blue eyes. "Me and my sister play that game all the time."

"It wasn't a game!" I hissed, staring at my bright red hand in shock. "I'm nervous!"

"Lily, look, we all know you passed, okay?" said my third friend Vanessa Keene. "With bloody flying colours," she added under her breath. She's always been jealous of me. But we're such great friends I hardly even notice it anymore.

I stared at her for a moment, and then I blinked slowly. I pretended I hadn't heard her grumble. "Just passing," I said in the voice I used when explaining things to my two-year-old cousin, "isn't good enough."

Vanessa raised her eyebrows at me, and continued to eat her breakfast.

Emmeline shook her head, folded up her _Daily Prophet_ and took off her glasses with all the grace of a professional businesswoman. "We'd better be getting to class," she said, stuffing the newspaper into her bag. "Before Lily explodes from the sheer pressure of it all."

I gave her a mock glare and followed my friends out of the Great Hall and to our History of Magic classroom.

After about ten minutes of anxiously waiting outside the classroom, which was way worse than it would have been if we'd stayed in the Great Hall, the rest of our class wandered over and the door to the classroom opened.

Professor Binns drifted out and through him we could see Professor McGonagall standing behind.

"Come inside, students," said Professor Binns in his usual monotone.

We filed inside, most of us chattering loudly. I was quiet, trying to hold my head high and make it look like I wasn't nervous at all.

I so bloody was.

We took our seats and Professor McGonagall took a sheet of parchment from Professor Binns. "I will now read the names of the ten winners who shall be accompanying me on the excursion. Please settle down, Mr Black," she added disapprovingly.

Most of the class turned to stare at the back row where the four infamous Marauders sat, but I resisted the urge and waited patiently, staring at Professor McGonagall.

"With a perfect score of fifty," began Professor McGonagall, "Lily Evans."

I let out a huge sigh of relief after realizing I'd been holding my breath. I shot my friends a wide grin, and Vanessa and Dorcas signalled for a high-five.

"Only half a mark below that," continued Professor McGonagall, "James Potter."

A whoop of triumph came from the back row, along with a few shouts of, "Yeah!"

"Next, with forty-eight and a half, Vanessa Keene."

Vanessa smiled, happy to be second. Emmeline looked a little miffed, but otherwise we were all proud of our Vanessa.

"After that, both with scores of forty-eight," said Professor McGonagall, "Remus Lupin and Dorcas Meadowes."

Emmeline now looked awfully cheesed off, but she hid that face well when Dorcas turned to her for a high-five.

Some cheers from the back row for Remus were heard.

"With forty-seven and a half, Emmeline Vance."

Emmeline smiled graciously, but I could so tell she was jealous.

"On forty-seven, Polly Oxford."

"Who the fudge?" said Vanessa, rather loudly. How very G-rated of her.

I looked over to the other side of the classroom, where a girl with bleached white blonde hair sat, politely accepting congratulations from the girls around her.

Polly wore a look of utter pride and she turned to give me a smug glare of triumph.

I stared blankly back at her obviously emotionally-muddled face.

"With forty-six and a half," said Professor McGonagall, and she let out a small sigh, "Sirius Black."

"**YEAH**!" came an extremely loud yell. I twisted in my chair to look.

Sirius had grabbed Potter and they were singing some kind of victory song, loudly and obnoxiously.

"That's enough, settle down, settle down," ordered Professor McGonagall. She looked back down at the parchment and seemed just a little startled. "With a score of forty-six, is Peter Pettigrew." Professor McGonagall looked over to Professor Binns. "Really?" I saw her mouth at him.

Professor Binns shrugged his ghostly shoulders.

Loud slaps from a number of high-fives echoed from the back row.

Professor McGonagall looked at the last name on the list and seemed startled. "And, somehow, Gilderoy Lockhart was the tenth person, with a score of forty-four out of fifty."

The classroom was silent with pure disbelief. Lockhart, score a top ten place? You've got to be kidding us, I thought.

"Woo hoo?" I heard Gilderoy say uncertainly.

Professor McGonagall ignored him and gave the rest of the class a sharp glare. "The rest of you scored under thirty. I am extremely disappointed." Then she gave a small sniff. "I shall see the ten winners tomorrow, in the Entrance Hall at nine o'clock sharp. Do not be late." She left the classroom.

The classroom buzzed with chatter, with most people talking to one winner or another.

"I can't believe we all get to go!" said Vanessa excitedly. "And with the Marauders, no less!"

"Great," I said, not trying to hold back the sarcasm.

"Oh Lily," said Dorcas, giving me a small shove. "It'll be so much fun. Just you wait."

**.x.x.x.**

**Hi there! Welcome to old fans, and those new folk who've stumbled across this.**

**I'll have to admit this: Yes, this ****is**** the old 'Weather's Here, Wish I Wasn't' but it's better now. Well, I don't know; was the old one that bad? I couldn't stand it, that's all. I promise you all that this ****will**** get updated and I'll resist that urge to delete again. :D**

**So tell me what you think! I'm happy to hear any feedback!**

**And loads of hugs, kisses and thanks to my two mates Nessa and Nikki. **

**Nessa: Thanks for the name and the idea to put you in this and get my stories going again. Your character will show up way more, I promise! And thanks for everything else too. :D**

**Nikki: Thanks, lad, for, you know, never giving up on getting me to get this back up.**

**This is dedicated to you guys!**

**And to all my extremely faithful readers and reviewers who have decided to pop by!**


	2. Oh No! Tailspin!

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and everyone associated with him is not my property. Which is so totally not fair. Why can't I have shares in Harry Potter?

**.x.x.x.**

"We're going on an excursion, excursion, excursion, we're going on an excursion," sang Dorcas loudly the next morning.

"Wherever we may go!" finished Vanessa, throwing her hairbrush into the air as some kind of finale.

Emmeline and I both rolled our eyes.

Vanessa whipped out her wand from her pocket and pointed it at her wardrobe. The doors flew open and clothes moved around inside it. Vanessa kept flicking her wand in a tired way, searching for some robes.

"It wouldn't kill you to do that yourself," said Emmeline, waving her own wand to put her hair into a tight plait.

Vanessa gave her a dirty look. "It wouldn't kill you to do that yourself!" she retorted in a thoroughly immature way, as she pulled out a pair of robes by hand and tugged them over her head.

"Have you ever tried to do one of these by hand?" Emmeline asked in challenging way, brandishing her wand around like a sword.

"No. Why would I? I'd look like a zebra," Vanessa replied, referring to her black and blonde hair. She patted it fondly, and Summoned her brush.

Emmeline's eyes narrowed and she muttered something under her breath.

"Guys!" I said, attempting too late to keep the peace.

Emmeline's spell hit Vanessa and her hair whipped around her head like a whirlwind.

Vanessa shut her eyes and started to scream, but then her hair-cyclone died down. She looked around cautiously at the faces that Dorcas and I were making. "What happened?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Dorcas turned her head sideways. Then she tipped it the other way. "Emmeline, I think you stuffed the spell," she said finally. "It looks like a birds' nest."

Vanessa let out a high pitched shriek. "**What**?" She raced over to the nearest mirror and shrieked again. "You little bitch! What the hell was that for? I never said anything about your hair! I said **mine** would look like a zebra's! How dare you!" Vanessa attempted a lunge at Emmeline, but Dorcas tackled her to the ground to prevent Vanessa's attack.

"Calm down, Vanessa," I said, trying to keep a calm voice myself. "It's alright. Just brush it out."

"You can't," said Emmeline, smiling rather evilly.

Vanessa eyes narrowed. "I hate you," she said in a low voice.

"And I love you too," said Emmeline, smiling sweetly now. "Now, unless we head downstairs now, we're gonna be late."

"Fine," Dorcas, Vanessa and I said in unison. I quickly pulled a brush through my hair before following the others out of our dormitory and down the stairs.

Which had turned into a slide.

"Aargh!" I cried, sliding from practically the top of the girls' tower down to the common room.

Vanessa and Dorcas were rather rosy-cheeked, as though they had enjoyed the ride. On the other hand, Emmeline had gone white.

"Yeah, um, sorry," said Sirius Black, who stood at the bottom of the slide/stairs like some kind of valet. "I, uh, forgot which one was which."

Vanessa, Dorcas and I laughed, but Emmeline hadn't had a good morning so far, and this didn't help.

"What?" she cried. "**What**? You forgot which one was which? How thick can you bloody well –"

"Emmeline," I said. "Please calm down."

"You should listen to Evans, Vance," said Potter, coming down the boys spiral staircase. "We don't want you exploding before our big excursion, now do we?"

We all gave him dirty looks, but he continued to grin. "We'd best be getting down to the Entrance Hall. I think we're late."

The four Marauders and us girls headed out of the portrait hole and down the marble staircase.

Professor McGonagall stood in the Entrance Hall; eleven broomsticks leant on the wall beside her. Polly Oxford and Gilderoy Lockhart were already with her.

"Now that we're all here," said Professor McGonagall, throwing us all filthy looks that clearly told us we were late, "we can head out. Everyone have their wands? That's all you need."

We all nodded at her. I noticed Vanessa and Dorcas pat their pockets and exchange secret grins.

"Let's go then. Take a broomstick and come outside." Professor McGonagall led by example, taking a broomstick and walking out of the large wooden doors.

Sirius handed a broomstick each to both Vanessa and Dorcas, who both smiled shyly, and walked out. I grabbed a broomstick for myself and went outside. Everyone else followed suit.

"Does everyone here know how to ride a broomstick?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes," we chorused back to her, in dull voices.

"Keep in a straight line, behind me," said Professor McGonagall, sitting on her hovering broomstick. "Don't fall back too far, or double up, or we'll be seen. Understand?"

"Yes," we said again. We all clambered onto our broomsticks.

Professor McGonagall rose up off the ground, and we did the same. We ascended up into the clouds.

Polly was behind Professor McGonagall. I immediately worked out that she was a real teacher's pet. Behind her flew Lockhart, followed by Emmeline, me, Dorcas and Vanessa. Next was Potter, Remus, Sirius and, last of all, Peter.

We flew quite happily for a while until we began flying over an ocean, and the clouds around us turned a dark kind of grey.

"Uh," said Vanessa loudly over the growing din of the wind, "is it just me, or do those storm clouds look angry?"

Professor McGonagall obviously didn't hear her, since she didn't turn around.

It began to rain lightly.

"Oh crap," said Emmeline. "Rain makes my hair frizzy."

Dorcas let out a laugh behind me. "Hey, check out Sirius' hair!" she yelled.

I twisted my head to take a look.

Sirius was looking rather peeved as he sat on his broomstick with his arms crossed. His hair had turned into one great big afro of frizzy hair.

"Yeah, stare at me. It's not my fault shampoos falsely advertise 'No more frizz!'" he yelled.

"Excuse me," Polly called from the front. "But can anyone see Professor McGonagall?"

We all strained our necks forward.

"I can't see her anywhere!" I yelled.

"Great!" said Potter. "We've lost the teacher."

It started to rain quite hard.

"Well, this is just peachy," said Dorcas. "We're lost; it's raining really hard and – **AARGH**! **LIGHTNING**!"

I turned quickly around to check if she was okay, when I saw the giant lightning bolt flash across the sky. Of course, this meant that I'd lost control of my broomstick.

"Oh dear," I muttered like some kind of grandmother, pulling it back into line behind Emmeline and colliding with her.

She shrieked and her broomstick went into a tailspin.

I didn't hit her that hard. I swear.

"Emmeline!" Dorcas and I cried.

Vanessa, the only of us on the Quidditch team and obviously forgetting that she hated Emmeline right now, pushed her broomstick down into the clouds after Emmeline, whose screams were fading.

"And here we are. Lost, in the middle of the storm and oh," said Potter. "We're only missing two students and the **teacher**!"

"Not helping!" I yelled at him.

"_**HELP**_!" The extremely loud scream came from below.

"Oh bugger it," said Dorcas. She spun her broomstick around and dived after them.

"Is anyone else going to help?" I asked the remaining people desperately.

"Your rescue skills suck, Evans!" Sirius yelled at me. I turned to see him grab Peter's arm and the both of them dived through the clouds.

Polly and Lockhart had stopped. So it was just them, Potter, Remus and I hovering in mid-air, in the pouring rain.

"Holy crap!" came a yell. "Prongs, Moony, I think you should –"

But the rest of what Black said was drowned out by a loud clap of thunder.

"I think we should go down there," said Lockhart, hovering in a nervous way in front of us. "You know, maybe Professor McGonagall is down there and we could rescue her and be hailed as heroes…"

We stared at him, Polly included.

"Good idea, Lockhart," said Potter finally. He grabbed Remus' arm with one hand and then grabbed mine with the other.

"What the hell are you doing?" I said furiously, trying to wrench my arm away.

"Being the hero, Evans," he said, grinning at me. He motioned for Lockhart and Polly to follow us. "Being the hero."

Somehow, Potter gave his broomstick some command and we went diving down, through the soaking wet clouds.

I shut my eyes against the force of the wind and the rain. When the rain seemed to lighten, I opened them, and caught sight of a great big green forest. Then the rain pelted on our heads, I heard Potter yell something, Polly screamed, and everything went black.

**.x.x.x.**

**Hey again! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry if I didn't reply to you; I'll be doing so from now on. You know why? 'Cause I got broadband! Hurrah! More updates!**

**And thanks to all the folks who pointed out the fact that Professor McGonagall is not a ghost. Sorry about that. It's fixed now. :D**

**Apologies for some mistakes that were made in this chapter earlier. They're fixed now. I am so editing every single chapter from now on. **

**Review and give me your feedback! Have a nice week! Next chapter within two weeks, promise! It'll be longer than this one too. :D**


	3. Insanity

**Disclaimer:** If Harry Potter was mine, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction. But I am. Go figure.

**.x.x.x.**

"Oh crap. Oh crap, no," someone beside me was saying.

I opened my eyes to bright sunlight. I squeezed them shut again.

"Crap, crap, crap," continued the voice.

A pounding feeling became more and more prominent. I opened my eyes once more, slowly this time so that I could get used to the light.

"Why?!" the person suddenly yelled, and they threw themselves onto the sand with a loud thump.

Wait. Sand?

I used my arms to prop myself up and looked around, squinting in the sun.

We were on a beach. Water lapped the shore all around and in the centre of the island, a tall mountain rose up into the sky, surrounded by dense rainforest.

"Lily?"

I heard my name and looked behind me. Vanessa was just sitting up and she gave me a small wave. "Hey!" she called.

I slowly waved back to her. Feeling as though this was all a dream, I carefully got up onto my feet.

Potter was the one who had thrown himself into the sand and was continuing to lie there whilst the sun began to heat up the island.

Remus was near him, and he was just starting to regain consciousness. He rubbed his sandy-coloured hair and blinked slowly.

Peter was still down for the count a few metres away, as well as Emmeline, Lockhart, Polly and Sirius.

Vanessa moved behind me, and I turned to see her kneeling over Dorcas' lifeless body.

"Oh no," I said, walking slowly towards them, not sure if my legs would carry me the small distance.

Dorcas suddenly sprang up, and she and Vanessa bumped foreheads.

"Oww," they both moaned, reeling backwards from each other.

I left them to their pain and decided to check if any of the others were alive. I nudged Potter's head. "Potter," I said, cautiously. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to be dead or not. "Potter?"

"Ugh…" he groaned, pulling his head out of the sand. "Evans?" he asked happily. "Is it really you?" He let out a loud yell in delight and latched himself onto my leg like five-year-olds normally do to their mothers in the middle of a tantrum.

"Get off me," I said shortly, giving my leg a little kick.

Potter let go and scrambled to his feet. "Oh my gosh!" he cried. "You're alive!" He lunged forward to hug me, but I darted to the left and he fell face first into the sand again.

"Nice to see you too," he said, his voice muffled.

I walked slowly over to where Emmeline lay, and kneeled down to test her pulse.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gave me an almost dreamy smile. "This is nice, isn't it?" she said leisurely, shutting her eyes again and stretching her legs.

Lockhart shot up suddenly and looked around, a fearful expression on his face. "Oh no," he said, catching sight of me. "This is like one of those too-good-to-be-true dreams. Well," he continued, getting onto his feet, "better make the most of it." He shot forward with puckered lips.

I let out a small scream and threw myself onto the ground.

Lockhart thankfully flew over me with the force of his jump and he locked lips with a palm tree behind me. He moaned as the palm tree was kind of spiky and he lay back down.

Polly lay so still I was pretty sure she was dead until I spotted her chest moving up and down with her breathing.

"Oh crap," said Potter behind me. That seemed to be one of his favourite words. I turned around to see him running a hand through his sand-filled hair and looking at Sirius and Peter with unease. "I hope they're not dead."

"Only one way to find out," I said, reaching into my pocket for my wand.

Which wasn't there.

"Oh no," I said, digging my hand deeper into my pocket. "Oh sweet Merlin, no."

"Problem, Lily?" asked Potter, grinning cockily at me.

"My wand." I patted all of my pockets desperately. "I don't have my wand."

"You mean this wand?" asked Potter. I looked up to see him twirling it between his fingers.

"Yes!" I lunged forward, but Potter took a quick step to the side and I fell into the sand. I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes. "How did you get that?"

"While you were sleeping," said Potter, grinning that cocky smile at me again.

"I hate you," I said through bared teeth, and I lunged again.

"And I love you too, Lily," Potter replied, taking another quick step so I ended up in the sand again.

"Hey, great job, Potter," said Vanessa coming up behind him and snatching my wand. "I didn't even have to tell you to find firewood and you got some. We must have ESP or something."

"Firewood?" I repeated hoarsely. "No, Vanessa, that's my –"

Vanessa snapped my wand cleanly in two and added it to her pile of twigs. She then grabbed a couple of rocks, rubbed them quickly against each other and a small spark set the pile on fire.

"**Vanessa**!" I cried. "That was my wand!"

"Oh," said Vanessa, looking down at the burning pile of sticks. "Sorry."

"You owe me a new one," I said, my eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, poking the fire with another large stick.

"Does anyone else have their wand?" I asked, looking around at the others.

Emmeline patted her pockets. "Nope."

Remus and Lockhart shook their heads.

Potter reached into Sirius' and Peter's pockets. "Nothing here."

"Sorry," said Vanessa and Dorcas.

"What about Polly?" I asked.

Emmeline reached into the girl's pockets. "No wand."

"Damn it," I said, sinking down into the sand.

"This looks like fun!" said Potter excitedly. "The ten of us stuck on a deserted island, with no magic whatsoever…"

"Well, we should try and find water," I interrupted Potter's speech which was beginning to sound like the storyline for a cheesy movie. I stood up again. "Who wants to come with me?"

Lockhart got up to join me, but I turned to Vanessa and Dorcas. "Ness?"

"Alright," said Vanessa, grabbing Dorcas' arm and the three of us walked into the rainforest.

"This is weird…" said Dorcas, looking around. "We've lost everything… It's like some sick game where the last one to survive wins."

Vanessa and I turned to her, our expressions fearful.

"I said, 'like.'" Dorcas laughed. "I'm sure this is just some weird twist of fate."

"Uh-huh," said Vanessa. She suddenly patted her pockets. "Hey, Dorcas…" she said, grinning at her.

"Yeah?" asked Dorcas, looking back at her.

Vanessa patted her pocket again, like some secret signal.

"Oh yeah!" said Dorcas, patting her own. "Alright," she said happily.

"What is with you two?" I asked, looking at them peculiarly.

"Nothing!" they chorused.

I narrowed my eyes, and turned to look at what was ahead again. "Hey!" I said gleefully. "Water!"

"Serious?" asked Vanessa, rushing forward.

"He's back on the beach," said Dorcas with a snigger.

Vanessa glared at Dorcas and punched her on the arm.

"Did either of you bring anything to hold the water in?" I asked, pulling them away from each other.

"Uh…" said Vanessa exchanging a glance with Dorcas, who shrugged.

Dorcas' eyes suddenly lit up. "But I do know how to make something we can hold the water in! All we need is a palm frond and me."

Vanessa raised her eyebrows at me and immediately jumped up at the nearest palm tree to grab the frond. She came crashing back down, bringing the palm frond down with her.

"Idiot," muttered Dorcas, pulling it out from underneath her and pulling the separate leaves off it. She worked deftly and quickly, weaving the leaves into a bucket-shaped thing.

"Ta-da!" she said finally, holding it out to me complete with handle. "One bucket for water holding at your service!"

Vanessa gave me a funny look. "Where did you learn to do that?"

Dorcas shrugged. "I've been abandoned before."

Vanessa rolled her eyes awkwardly, which was a signal that she didn't understand. "Right."

I filled the bucket with water, which held together surprisingly well. "Let's get back to the beach," I said, lifting it upwards and starting along the way back.

Dorcas and Vanessa followed behind, whispering.

We got back to the beach and only Emmeline and Polly were there.

"Emmeline?" I asked, walking over to her. Polly was sitting on a rock further up the beach, her face in her hands.

"Leave me – Oh, hey, Lily," she said, spinning around to face me.

I gave her a funny look. "Um, what's that in your hand?"

Emmeline quickly whipped the giant stick behind her back. "What's what?"

My eyes narrowed. "Nothing… Um, I got us some water. Where'd the boys go?" I asked, as I dumped the bucket on the beach.

"To start their own camp in the forest," said Emmeline, dropping down onto the sand with a soft thump. "We're better off sticking together, but they ran off and occasionally Lockhart comes along and tries to … um… So that's why I was –" Emmeline stopped suddenly. "That's why I wasn't holding the stick," she finished.

"Uh-huh," said Dorcas, coming up from behind her and snatching the stick. "Sure you weren't."

Emmeline's cheeks went red and she looked down at the ground. "This place is giving me the creeps. I think the boys have gone insane," she said after a pause.

"You just said that they ran off into the forest to make a camp for themselves," I said. "That just sounds like they want some guy time."

Dorcas and Vanessa snorted and high-fived each other.

I sighed. "Not in that way."

They continued to giggle. Emmeline and I sighed and turned away from them.

"So," I said, ignoring them, "they're not insane, they just want some privacy, you know what I mean?"

Dorcas and Vanessa laughed louder.

"Yes," said Emmeline, raising her voice over our friends' laughter. "But, it's just…"

"What?" I nearly shrieked to make myself heard.

"James and Sirius were muttering something about pink and purple clouds and how the King of Islands will save us all."

I'd been grinning at Emmeline's mere accusations of the boys going insane, since they had always been insane, but this statement made my whole face drop.

"What?" I said in a deathly grim voice.

Vanessa and Dorcas were on their backs now, shrieking with laughter.

"The King of Islands, they say!" cried Dorcas between bouts of laughter. "He will save us! Vanessa, I can't wait to meet him! What should I say to him?"

"How about," gasped Vanessa, "'hey, Mr King of Islands, what exactly are you King of?'"

They laughed and rolled about.

"Um," I said, looking away from my previously only mildly weird friends. "Maybe this island is driving everyone insane."

"**I AM A BIRD**!" a voice screamed. Emmeline and I turned to look.

Polly had her arms outstretched and was about to dive off the high rock and into the shallow high tide.

"Oh Merlin," said Emmeline.

"Crap," I said, staring at Polly.

"What do we do? What do we do?" asked Emmeline in a very fast voice, the one she normally used when she was panicking.

"Don't worry, Emmeline," said Vanessa, standing up and laying a shaking hand on Emmeline's shoulder, "the King of Islands won't let her die."

"Oh my God," I moaned. Everything was going wrong, wrong, wrong.

**.x.x.x.**

**Sorry about the lack of updates guys! It's assignment season at my school right now, so I've been a little hectic, but I'm getting through it all in order to keep typing this story! **

**To make up for my lie of 'two weeks' (sorry once more!), here's a couple of chapters to keep you all happy. :D**

**Enjoy! And remember, if you liked it; feel free to tell me your favourite part!**


	4. More Insanity and Country Bumpkins

**Disclaimer:**** Harry Potter, no matter how good-looking he and his mates are, is not my property. Damn.**

**.x.x.x.**

"I've got an idea!" cried Dorcas, snapping out of her insane laughter fit for a moment. She pulled Vanessa up off the sand. "Help me out here, Ness!"

The two of them ran back to where I had dumped the water bucket. They lifted it up and heaved it towards the rock on which Polly sat.

"Dorcas!" I cried, trying to stop her. "No! We just got that –"

But it was too late. They threw the bucket of water over Polly with a chorus of, "Snap out of it, Oxford!"

I crumpled into the sand as I watched the water drench Polly until she looked like a drowned rat. "Idiots," I said.

Polly's eyes widened as the cold water hit her and she toppled off the rock, headfirst into the sand. She got up again, covered in sandy mud. "What – What's going on?" she asked, whipping her head around so fast, I thought her neck was going to snap.

"Polly," I said, trying to maintain a calm voice. "It's okay. You're going to stay here with Dorcas and Vanessa" – I pointed at them to make sure she knew who they were – "and Emmeline and I are going to get some more water. Do you understand?"

Polly blinked a couple of times before nodding slowly.

"Good." I grabbed Emmeline's arm and the bucket that lay in the sand. "Let's go."

"Oh, but it's dark in there," Emmeline moaned as I pulled her towards the forest.

"Emmeline, what house are you in?" I asked in a tired voice.

"Gryffindor," she answered quietly.

"And what animal represents us?"

"A griffin."

Oh. That's right. "Um. Yeah. And, uh, what do griffins do?"

"Fly?" asked Emmeline, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Oh, whatever," I said, dragging her forcefully into the forest. "You're s'posed to be brave. That's what I was going for."

"Well, that didn't work too well then," said Emmeline scornfully.

"Shut up, at least it distracted you enough to get you in here," I said, continuing to pull her deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Oh damn," said Emmeline. "Where's my big stick when I need it?"

"What?" I said, beginning to turn around to face her when there was a hollering from above. "Oh, what now?" I said angrily, looking upwards.

There was some rustling from above and James (I could no longer call him Potter, since Potter wasn't quite as insane, nor was he the type to swing from vines that could barely hold him.) came swinging down. There was a loud snap and he fell in a heap just in front of us.

Emmeline cowered behind me. "Told you they'd gone insane," she whispered.

"What the **hell** are you doing, James?" I said, looking at him incredulously.

"Are you the King of Islands?" he asked as he scrambled to his feet with a messy salute. His robes were somewhat torn and he'd tied his socks into some kind of headband.

"Do I look like him?" I asked, tapping my foot.

"Not really," said James slowly, squinting at me through his lenses. I was surprised his glasses had kept together through this whole ordeal.

"Then no, I'm not the King of Islands. Can we please go past you now; I do want to get some water before it gets any darker."

James stepped aside and saluted us. "Proceed."

"Freak," I muttered as Emmeline and I walked past.

The two of us reached the small lake and I filled the woven bucket to the top. "This'll do," I said, lifting it with all my strength.

"Uh, Lily…" said Emmeline, tapping me on the shoulder. "Is it normal for someone to be pointing a very large stick at us and then running forwards?" she asked, her voice going squeaky as she reached the end of her sentence.

"Of course n –" I began and then I saw Lockhart. "Oh, Merlin!" I cried, grabbing Emmeline and pulling her to the ground with me.

Lockhart took a flying leap, in order to attack us better, but since we'd ducked, he flew straight over us and into the lake with a loud splash.

"Right," I said, grabbing the bucket with both hands. "We're getting out of here. Everyone's going insane."

Emmeline and I hurried out of the forest and back onto the beach.

Where a tall hut stood at the edge of the forest.

"Oh, cool!" cried Emmeline, running over to it.

Dorcas suddenly appeared on the roof, with grass between her teeth. She smoothed out the grass of the roof and looked down at Emmeline. She waved. "Hey y'all! What time did youse get back from that there forest, ay?"

"Oh God," I muttered, forgetting all about Merlin. Dorcas had somehow managed to fashion her robes into overalls and the grass in her mouth just completed the 'country bumpkin' look.

"Hey!" said Vanessa, who had finished weaving a large rectangle from palm fronds and waved at us. "Did you get some more water then?"

"Thank God you're normal," I said, dragging the water over to the hut.

"Oh, yeah, Dorcas has been like that for a little while now. She claimed she was channelling dead spirits or something," said Vanessa, dragging the rectangle up and placing it in front of the open doorway of the hut. She looked at it critically and grabbed some long leaves off the ground and tied to door into place. "Done!"

"Hooray!" said Dorcas, leaping down and beginning a small jig. "We gots ourselves a purdy li'l hut to stay the night!"

"I'm sorry, Dorcas," I said, bending down and picking up the stick Emmeline had been holding a while ago. "But I really must do this." I raised the stick above my head and hit Dorcas straight on the head.

"Lily!" cried Vanessa, her eyes wide. "You killed her!"

"I didn't kill her," I said, looking down at Dorcas lifeless body. "I just knocked her out for a while."

Vanessa's eyes didn't blink. She paused for a moment. "Lies," she hissed.

"Vanessa, honestly, I used to do this to Petunia all the time; she'll live, I swear!" I dropped the stick and took a couple of steps back.

Vanessa's eyes had narrowed to slits. She took a slow step forwards. "Lies," she hissed again.

I sighed, and swiftly bent down and picked the stick up again. "Sorry," I said simply, knocking her 'round the head.

Emmeline's jaw had dropped. "Great!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Now you've killed two of our friends!"

"They're not dead!" I said. "How many times do I have to say it?"

Emmeline raised her eyebrows skeptically but she didn't say anything else. We left Vanessa's and Dorcas' bodies lying where they were and walked up the beach a little way.

"So, where do you think we can get some kind of food around here?" asked Emmeline, looking around. "Somehow I don't think this is the type of island to have a Honeydukes stashed away somewhere."

I smiled as I looked up at the palm trees swaying overhead. This place would be quite nice if it wasn't so… Deserted.

Suddenly there was a rustling of bushes on our left, inside the forest.

"What was that?" Emmeline asked fearfully, clutching at my arm.

"Uh…" I said, staring into the blackness. "It was probably just a bird or something."

"Lily," said Emmeline, suddenly looking straight into my face.

"What?"

"We haven't seen a bird, or any kind of animal for that matter, since we got here."

I blinked. "So, what was –"

"**HELP**!" a male's voice screamed and someone leapt out at us.

As seemed to be the norm since we had arrived on this damn island, I pulled Emmeline down as we both ducked.

"Oh, uh, sorry 'bout that," said a voice apologetically. Emmeline and I slowly got to our feet and turned around.

Remus stood there, his sandy hair covered in actual sand and he picked at the tattered sleeves of his robes nervously.

There was an awkward pause before…

"**WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING**?!" screamed Emmeline, her eyes wide. "**ARE YOU INSANE**?"

"Emmeline," I said, patting her arm. "I think we've worked out that everyone is insane."

"Look, I'm sorry," said Remus. "Sirius was chasing me; he said I had to help him convince James that swimming for help was not an option."

"Right," I said, nodding along with his story. "Wait, what? James is swimming for help?"

Remus nodded sadly. "The main problem is that he can't swim."

"Oh, Merlin," I said, smacking my face with my palm. "Right," I said, looking back up at them again. "Let's go."

"Go where?" asked Emmeline nervously as I grabbed her wrist.

"Into the forest, where else? We're finding James."

"Wait… James? You actually wanna save that boy?" asked Emmeline incredulously.

"Emmeline, we should all stick together, you said that yourself. And if it means –"

"Lily," said Remus, turning to look at the forest.

"What?" I said, annoyed.

"Don't worry, Emmeline," said Remus. "They're coming out of the forest."

At that moment, James, Sirius, Peter and Lockhart came scurrying out the forest, James clearly in the lead.

"You can't talk me out of this!" cried James. "The King appeared to me in a vision and told me I have to do this!"

"James, the King doesn't exist! We were going mental at the time!" Sirius tried to explain. "**YOU CAN'T SWIM**!" he screamed as an afterthought.

"The King of Islands said I could," said James, shrugging off what was left of his robe leaving him in just his torn pants and no shirt. I should have looked away. But I couldn't.

"Prongs!" cried Peter, clearly just wanting to be part of the conversation. "Padfoot's right, you can't swim!"

"I refuse to listen to you republicans," said James defiantly, turning away from his best friends. "The King knows all. I must do this."

"He's not joking," said Sirius, watching him climb onto the rock that Polly had been perched on before. The tide has risen further and the water was deeper. "He's actually going to do it."

"He's not joking," I said quietly, as he stretched and jogged in the spot to ready himself. "He's actually going to do it."

And with that, James dived into the ocean.

**.x.x.x.**

**Hey again! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though it's awfully short. The next one should be longer. **

**Hope you are all having a nice day! Especially my cousin! Happy birthday once again!**


	5. Saving Lives and Losing Them

**Disclaimer:**** Harry Potter and anyone related to him are not mine and I'm just borrowing his parents for my own strange purposes.**

**.x.x.x.**

"Oh Christ – Merlin – Sugar – Fruit-looping – **JESUS ON TOAST, POTTER, NO**!" I screamed, watching as the place where James had dived grew still.

"Hey, he's okay at swimming," said Emmeline, looking out at the ocean. "He's holding his breath pretty well."

"Emmeline," I said slowly, as if explaining physics to a five-year-old. "He's not breathing."

"Oh," she said, like the child she was. "That would explain the absence of bubbles."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the sea. There it was, a huge expanse of blueness and James was drowning somewhere in it all.

"Stuff this," I said, pulling off my robes, so I was left in my blouse and skirt. "I'm gonna swim after him."

"Have you gone mental?" asked Emmeline, her eyes wide. Then she took on a completely serious look. Her eyes narrowed fiercely. "I'll knock you out, like you did to Vanessa and Dorcas."

"That was for their own safety, Emmeline!" I explained quickly, backing towards the ocean. "I have to at least _try_ to save James, and then I can claim it was an accident."

"**WHAT**?" shrieked Peter, Remus, Sirius and Lockhart in unison.

"I'll kill you, like you killed –" Emmeline began, tears falling from her eyes.

"Emmeline! I'm just going to swim after James! I'm not heading to my impending doom or anything!"

Emmeline had found a stick and she raised it high. "I'll – I'll –"

But I didn't end up hearing what she would do, since I had turned around and dived into the ocean.

The salt water burnt my eyes as I opened them to at least try to get an idea of where James was.

There! He was floating lifelessly in the water.

_Damn it_, I thought, swimming over to him. _Stupid Emmeline and her stick_.

I grabbed James' leg and pulled him with some difficulty back to where the water was shallower.

**.x.x.x.**

Emmeline later recounted to me what happened on the shore while I was gone.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," fretted Emmeline, hopping from one foot onto the other. "Now all of my friends are dead. Oh, what am I gonna do?"

"What about Polly?" asked Sirius. "I thought she was your friend."

"Polly?" scoffed Emmeline. "As if. You know, if I didn't see that little –" Emmeline stopped abruptly. "Hang on. Where is Polly? She was s'posed to stay here… but…"

"Oh great!" said Sirius, throwing his hands in the air. "Four people are dead, and now one's missing too. Just peachy."

"We'd better go look for her!" cried Emmeline. "I need her! She's the only girl left alive!"

With that, Emmeline, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lockhart took off into the forest to find Polly. She was obviously not realizing that Dorcas and Vanessa weren't actually dead, and that I was still alive too.

I wasn't so sure about James though.

"Goddammit," I said through the water. "For being so slim, he's awfully heavy."

I dragged him along the sand as we reached shallower water and I finally came up and gasped for air. I dragged James, tugging hard on his legs until we finally reached dry land.

"Hey… hey!" I gasped, pulling James further up onto the beach. "I got him, I found him, I think he's breathing, look, I –"

There was no response. Nothing. All I could hear was the sea rolling in and the breeze swaying the palm trees.

"Oh for – **FREAKING HELL! WHY DID THEY ABANDON ME**?" I screamed, throwing myself into the sand in annoyance.

There was loud coughing from beside me followed by a retching noise.

"Did you just throw up?" I asked, raising my head slightly, and disgust obvious in my tone.

"Uh, yeah," said James' voice. "I think I did."

"Gross," I said, flopping back down.

Then it hit me.

"Wait, you're alive?!" I cried, jumping up out of the sand.

James rubbed his head. "Um, yeah? Unless I'm dead and this is heaven, 'cause that's okay too. I mean, I like beaches."

"Oh thank Merlin, and God, and everything else there is to thank!" I threw myself on him and hugged him tightly.

"Wait," said James, as I pulled back and grinned widely at him. He squinted, since he didn't have his glasses on. "Lily? Are you – of your own free will – hugging me?"

"Yes," I said breathlessly. "You know why? Because you're alive! And that's great!"

"Lily, you know who I am, right?" James asked slowly, shooting me a puzzled look.

"Yeah, you're –" I stopped, as abruptly as Emmeline had done whilst I was in the ocean. "Oh, I… I did _not_ just hug you, did I?"

James nodded slowly.

"Uh… Um… Right, well. I have some friends to revive, so I'll be off," I said, trying to end this situation on a non-awkward note and turning around.

I then began to run.

**.x.x.x.**

"Dorcas?" I said, shaking her small body frantically. "Dorcas?"

Dorcas made some kind of noise that sounded vaguely like my cat when she was playing with a ball of yarn.

"Dorcas?" I asked again.

"Ah – Ah – Ah – **ATCHOO**!"

I leapt backwards, but it was too late. "Dorcas!" I cried, attempting to rub off what she had just sneezed on me. "Ugh! This is disgusting!"

Dorcas wiped her nose and smiled at me as she slowly sat up. "Sorry," she said groggily. "Didn't realize you were there." She looked around. "Oh, gosh darn it, are we still stuck on this stupid island?"

"Oh damn…" moaned Vanessa a little way off. "I was hoping the sea gulls had taken us back to Hogwarts by now."

"The sea gulls," Dorcas and I repeated.

"Right, well," said Dorcas awkwardly, turning her back on Vanessa. "Um… So… Where are the others?"

"Well, I just rescued James a minute ago –" I began, but Dorcas ever so rudely cut me off.

"You _what_?" she asked, her blue eyes wide. "_Rescued_ him? What the hell happened? Was he attacked by wild trees or something?"

"Um, no," I said. "He dived into the ocean, and he can't swim."

"Oh. I see."

"Hang on," I said. "You're not all, 'Oh, I see what y'all mean. Well, we'd best be getting them cows in, there's a storm a-brewing that a-way.'"

"Um, no," Dorcas replied. "Why would I be?"

"Well, it's just that –" Something clicked in my head. "What the hell is with this island? One minute, it's like you're insane, and now Vanessa's the one talking to the – Vanessa! No, don't –" I leapt up onto my feet and ran over to Vanessa. I quickly pulled her away from the fern that I _knew_ was poisonous. I breathed heavily as I helped her onto her feet and led her to the hut. "Stay. Here," I ordered.

Vanessa nodded once and then she sat herself down and began to braid her hair.

"Dorcas!" I called, coming out of the hut. "Come on; I think the others went into the forest."

Dorcas shrugged. "Okay then." She got up and we walked into the dark forest.

**.x.x.x.**

"It's kind of really dark in here now," said Dorcas in a worried tone, as she continuously looked around.

I rolled my eyes. "You know why? Because the trees block the sunlight."

"Oh…" said Dorcas, looking up in wonder.

"Lily! Lily! Where are you going?" called out a voice from behind us.

"Damn," I muttered, wincing. I turned around to face James. "Look, can't you stay back –" I began, but I was immediately swept up into a high and well-woven net.

"Lily?" said James, looking up at me and raising his eyebrows.

"Don't just stand there!" I yelled. "Get me down!"

"Um, how?" said Dorcas, staring up at me.

"**A-HA**!" screamed a voice triumphantly. "I've caught myself some dinner!"

James and Dorcas took one look at each other and dived behind the nearest bush.

"What are you – _Get me down_!"

"Dinner, dinner, dinner…" sang the voice, getting closer. "I've got some dinner!"

"Polly?" I said incredulously, as she walked into the clearing. "Polly, _what the hell_? I am not dinner!"

"Oh…" said Polly, a small smile spreading over her face. "Really."

"Yes, really," I said, trying to not be scared of that smile. "I am person, not food."

Polly's smile grew wider.

"Now!" yelled Dorcas, tackling Polly to the ground. James grabbed her arms and tied her hands together with a vine.

"_Polly_!" cried a voice happily, and Emmeline came running into the clearing. She stopped short when she caught sight of me in the net, and James and Dorcas struggling to keep Polly down. She stared for a moment, before rushing forward with a cry of, "_Dorcas_!" She hugged Dorcas tightly.

"Well, now that everyone's alive again," said Remus, looking at us all, "I think we should let Lily down and head back to the camp."

"Hey, aren't we missing someone?" asked Peter, looking around with a quizzical expression.

"Yeah, where's Keene?" asked Sirius, looking up at me.

"Back at the hut," I said matter-of-factly. "Now will someone please let me down?"

**.x.x.x.**

The nine of us trooped back through the forest until we were on the beach again. Polly was still tied with vine, and James marched her along. We walked around the edge of the island, until we finally caught sight of the hut.

"Vanessa!" cried Emmeline, running ahead of us. "Vanessa!"

But there was no response.

"Vanessa?" said Emmeline, more cautiously this time as we approached the hut. She peered inside. "She's not in here."

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" repeated Peter. "That never means anything good has happened."

"Uh-oh," said Dorcas again, louder this time.

"What? What now?" I said.

"My axe is gone," said Dorcas, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Your axe?" repeated James and Sirius incredulously.

"What axe?" asked Remus. "_You were planning to take an axe to a museum_?"

"No, no…" said Dorcas, looking around and waving her hand dismissively. "I found one on the island when we got here, so Vanessa and I hid it… Uh-oh."

"Stop saying uh-oh!" said Emmeline. "But, wait. You mean…"

"Vanessa has the axe. And she's somewhere on the island," concluded Dorcas.


	6. Lost and Found

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J. K. 'Nuff said.

**.x.x.x.**

Peter flopped to the ground and started crying. "This is like some kind of horror movie!" he sobbed. "And the fat kid always gets killed first…"

"I thought it was the dumb kid," said Remus, looking at Lockhart.

"Actually, isn't it normally the girl's silly friend?" suggested Sirius.

"Look, none of us are going to die!" I said, annoyed. "We'll just have to split up and find her. Groups of three, okay?"

"I'm going with James," said Sirius, immediately putting his hand up.

"And I'm going with Lily," said James.

I rubbed my temples. "Okay. Okay. Fine. Remus, Lockhart, Polly; you're together. Emmeline, Dorcas and Peter; you're together. Okay? Good. Now, Remus, cover the beach; Emmeline, take the forest; and we'll trek up the mountain and if she's not up there, at least we'll have a bird's eye view. What do we do if we find her?"

"Chuck a coconut in the air!" suggested Sirius.

"Um, that's slightly more noticeable," I said, turning to the others for help.

"Whistle!" said Dorcas. "You know, like this…" She stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle.

"Don't ever, ever, _ever_ do that again without warning me," said Sirius, staring at Dorcas.

"Well, can at least one person in every group do that?" I asked.

Remus said he could, and James and Sirius tried but failed. But they said they could anyway.

"So, now that that's –" I began, but I was interrupted by a loud whistle.

"Told you I could do it!" said James triumphantly, while Sirius winced.

"Let's just go, shall we?" I said, marching towards the well-worn track that I knew would lead to the mountain.

Don't ask me how I knew, I just did.

"Slow down!" panted Sirius, he and James jogging behind me. "We can take as long as we want; it's not like she's about to die or anything…"

I turned on my heel and faced the two boys. "Black, she has an _axe_."

"_She_'s the cat's mother," put in James.

My eyes narrowed. "_Vanessa_ has an _axe_. It's not the fact that _Vanessa_ is going to die, but more the fact that one of us could die tonight, if we don't find her."

"Her –" began Sirius, but I narrowed my eyes further and simply said, "Shut up."

The three of us walked in silence and the path began to take an upward turn.

"Prongs…" said Sirius. "My legs hurt. Carry me."

"Honestly," I said, not turning around. "You are so –" I didn't get to finish my sentence as James walked ahead with Sirius on his back.

"Freaks," I muttered under my breath, following after them.

**.x.x.x.**

Meanwhile, I was told later of how the other two groups were going.

"Damn it, Polly, can't you walk in a straight line?" asked Gilderoy in frustration.

"Well, hello? My hands are kind of tied together and it's ruining my balance," said Polly in frustration.

"Can you two stop talking while I try and figure out the best way to get around this whole beach?" asked Remus, annoyed and glaring at the two of them.

Gilderoy and Polly exchanged glances and trudged after Remus as he led them along the beach.

"Bloody lovesick people," Remus muttered, staring down at his bare feet.

"We're not lovesick!" screeched Polly and Gilderoy in indignation. Then they stared at each other, and, according to Remus, suddenly leapt onto each other.

Remus let out a sigh of disgust, and kept walking. The sun stretched out along the beach, heating up the sand and causing Remus to jump awkwardly from shadow to shadow, alone in his quest for Vanessa and the stolen axe.

That sounds like a rather epic tale really.

Polly and Gilderoy had broken away from each other for a moment and were staring into the nearby forest with fear on their faces.

"Did you see anything?" Polly asked, her eyes wide. "Remus? Remus! Did you see something in the forest?"

"No, Polly," Remus answered, not turning around. "It was probably your mind playing tricks on you."

"But…"

"Or else it was your imagination," said Remus, still jumping from shadow to shadow.

"Yeah," said Polly.

"Maybe," said Gilderoy slowly.

**.x.x.x.**

"It's, um, sort of dark in here…" said Peter, looking around warily. The forest had darkened a little, since it was getting late in the day and shadows were falling everywhere.

"Emmeline, how far into the forest do we have to go?" asked Dorcas as the two of them ignored Peter's whimpering.

"Far enough, Dorcas. We're trying to find Vanessa, remember?" replied Emmeline, watching her feet to make sure she didn't trip over any roots.

Of course, Peter wasn't being that smart.

"Ouch," he said, falling flat on his face.

Dorcas and Emmeline sighed and kept walking.

"Hey! Can I have some help? Please? You can't leave me alone; Lily didn't want us to be alone!"

As always, mentioning my name and what I would do makes everyone feel guilty. So Emmeline and Dorcas turned around and helped Peter back up onto his feet.

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Peter asked.

Dorcas and Emmeline sighed again.

"We're looking for a girl with black-and-white hair –" began Emmeline.

"Technically it's platinum blonde and black," corrected Dorcas.

Emmeline threw her a look that signified she did not give a damn. "– who is also holding an axe," she finished.

"Presumably," added Dorcas. "She may or may not have taken it."

"What?" said Emmeline in disbelief. "What do you mean, _presumably_?"

"Emmeline, what does presumably mean?" asked Dorcas, her eyebrows raised.

"It means – It doesn't matter what it means!" cried Emmeline. "What it means is that you don't remember where you left a bloody axe!"

"I said that me and Vanessa hid it… So if I don't remember where I left it, then Vanessa will," said Dorcas matter-of-factly.

Emmeline smacked her face with her hand. "And Vanessa is the one missing, right?"

"Uh-huh," said Dorcas, not understanding Emmeline's logic.

"Dorcas, of course Vanessa has the freaking axe."

"Oh. Well, I'd guess we'd better find her then."

Emmeline sighed, and so did Peter.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why Lily bothers to speak to Dorcas… honestly…" Emmeline muttered to Peter as they walked deeper into the forest.

The three of them kept walking further until they reached the lake where I had previously retrieved water from.

"I'm thirsty," said Peter, dropping onto a rock beside the water. "I think we should take a break and have a drink."

"Motion passed," said Dorcas, dropping onto her stomach and leaning out over the water.

Emmeline rolled her eyes and sat down as well.

Peter suddenly looked off into the thick bushes. "What was that?"

"What was what?" asked Dorcas nonchalantly, still drinking.

"That… glint… in the bushes…" said Peter, still staring at the darkness.

"No idea," answered Emmeline and Dorcas. "Probably your imagination."

"Yeah," said Peter slowly, turning back to the water. "Maybe."

**.x.x.x.**

We had reached the top of the mountain at last.

"Wow," I said, looking down at the green of the top of the forest. The white sand of the beach ringed it and the setting sun twinkled off the blue-green ocean. "It couldn't be any more beautiful."

"Um, Lily," said Sirius, tapping my shoulder and looking the other way. "I think perhaps you should turn around."

I had to tear my eyes away from the ocean and found myself faced with an axe, glinting in the setting sun.

"Where's –" I began, but I stopped short. Vanessa was holding James by the arm and held the axe in her other hand.

"Damn," said Sirius, shutting his eyes.

**.x.x.x.**

**Yeah… Um. Sorry? ducks But I'm here now. Isn't that good? …**

**Two chapters! :D**

**Sorry to inform you that the next one is the last one. … At least I'm getting it all done so this won't happen again, right? :D**


	7. Saved

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and anything that is associated with him isn't mine.

**.x.x.x.**

"What?" I whispered, as Vanessa stared at us.

"Well, you won't die because you're the main character, and James won't die because he's the love interest –" said Sirius, looking everywhere but at Vanessa.

I bristled at that comment.

"Which means, in the laws of horror movies, I'm going to die before Vanessa does," he finished.

"Sirius, you're not going to die," I said, keeping an eye on Vanessa as she took a step forward.

"I'll never own that flying motorbike…" he sighed, looking into the distance.

"Sirius," I said, slightly more urgently as Vanessa moved closer.

"Or eat seventy-two muffins with Peter in the kitchens…"

"Seventy-two?" I repeated, as Vanessa's eyes narrowed.

"Or be godfather to James' little boy that he was gonna have with you…"

"_What_?" I said, whipping around to face him, and that was a mistake.

"Lily, turn back –" yelled James, but then he let out a yelp and I turned back around to see Vanessa push him down the mountain.

"Prongs!" Sirius shouted after him as James tumbled into a bush at the base of the mountain. "Just… Does it have thorns? If it does, don't touch them, just roll away from them –"

"Shut up!" said Vanessa, annoyed with Sirius' constant talking. "I'm trying to commit a murder here, and you just keep talking! For Merlin's sake, shut the hell –"

Vanessa was suddenly cut off by a loud whistle that seemed to come from the base of the mountain.

"Onwards!" screeched a voice from the part of the forest beside the mountain. Emmeline, Dorcas and Peter tore out of the shrubbery and held large sticks on high as they ran up the side of the low mountain. Their expressions were almost twisted with both determination and frustration as they climbed the mountain.

Vanessa looked absolutely livid. She took a wild swing with the axe and it flew out of her hands, flying by Peter and the handle knocked him out.

Dorcas and Emmeline continued on regardless as Peter crumpled to the ground with a loud groan. They both dropped their sticks as they reached the peak and Dorcas hurried ahead of Emmeline.

"Vanessa! Calm down! It's Dorcas, remember?" said Dorcas, running up to her. "Don't do anything rash –"

Vanessa narrowed her eyes and roughly shoved Dorcas and making her stumble. Dorcas threw her an enraged look and shoved her back. They quickly became rougher and it became a full-on fight.

"Dorcas! Vanessa!" said Emmeline, trying to come between them and make them stop attempting to kill each other. "Come on now, there's no need for anyone to get hurt –"

"Well, it's too late for Peter and James, isn't it," I heard Sirius mutter from behind me. He had folded his arms and was watching the girls shoving each other with a slightly interested expression. I realized that my hand had risen to cover my openly-shocked mouth and I dropped it stupidly, still looking at Dorcas and Vanessa's fight.

Emmeline opened her mouth to say something else to the two of them; probably something else about getting them to stop; but she was caught in the middle of an enormous shove by Vanessa and promptly rolled down the side of the mountain.

Since it appeared that neither Dorcas nor Emmeline were going to use their dropped sticks for the time being, I picked them up and swung them both at Dorcas and Vanessa for the second time.

"Well, that takes care of them," I said, dropping the sticks onto the ground and dusting my hands off as they collapsed.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at my actions, but he didn't say anything.

A loud whistle was suddenly heard from the beach. "**YES! HERE! SAVE US, SAVE US!**" screamed a chorus of voices from the beach. I looked over at the horizon and saw three broomsticks coming towards the island.

"Sirius!" I said happily, turning around and shaking him by the shoulders. "Someone is coming to save us! Really!"

Sirius looked rather shocked and tried to pull himself away from me; most likely because I had a manic expression on my face. But honestly, I had never been happier.

"Help me get the bodies and we'll take them down to the beach!" I told him, picking up Dorcas and Vanessa by their ankles and dragging them behind me, picking up Emmeline along with the way.

Sirius grabbed Peter's legs and pulled James up unsteadily onto his feet. The three of us walked through the forest, dragging the other three, as quickly as we could to the beach, where Professor McGonagall and a few Ministry officials were standing.

"Oh Lily!" cried Lockhart suddenly, launching himself onto me and tugging on my hair in what he obviously assumed was affectionate. "You're okay, you're okay!"

Polly looked awfully put out at the attention that Lockhart was giving me. Lockhart continued tugging on my hair until I managed to pull myself away and he had pulled out a good chunk of my hair.

I opened my mouth in pure shock and prepared myself for screaming and killing him with my bare hands, but Professor McGonagall stopped me.

"Oh thank Merlin that you're all okay." She actually did look quite worried. "I thought that we had lost you all forever when that storm hit. But thank Merlin, thank Merlin…"

We were all bundled into blankets and held tight by the officials and myself by McGonagall as we flew over the sea and back to the safety of Hogwarts.

**.x.x.x.**

So that's our story. Peter hasn't quite woken up yet. His loss. Dorcas, Emmeline and Vanessa have since come to, and Vanessa doesn't remember what happened after we left the school grounds. Astonishing, really. Emmeline and Dorcas offered their two cents on the story as I wrote this down, to help with details, and Remus too. Polly and Lockhart were released yesterday because neither of them had a single thing wrong with them.

Apart from their brains. But obviously that's not enough to keep them in the Hospital Wing.

So I hope by reading this, you now know what we had to go through and you've officially learnt the lesson of not saying yes to the same kind of opportunity.

I hope.


End file.
